Method and apparatus for annealing glassware



Feb. 9, 1932. R. GOOD A 1,844,154

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANNEALINGGLASSWARE Filed April 2s. 1924 joelftoad 2 s@ mjm i A www Patented Feb. '9, 1932 UNITED` sTATEs vtienePrvrEN'lf OFFICE y ROBERT eoon, on WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, AssrGNoE ToIranian- ATLASl GLASS oo., or WHEELING, WEST VTEGINIA, A lcoErozaATIoN0EWEST VIRGIN-1A The invention relates generally to a new l and improvedmethod and apparatusfor annealing glassware, and consists of ,avertical, or substantially vertical, tubular construction through whichthe glassware slowly travels from top to bottom, the glassware Y beinggradually cooled during'its passage.

. bled.

`The objects and advantages of the invention will be fully set forth inthe following detailed description, and the construction of the leerwill beclearly understood by tho e skilled in the fart when saiddetailed description is considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Referring to the dra-wings more in detail,

particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, numeral l" indicatesl a muiiie oroven,'the passage through which is preferably cylindrical, as indicatedby numeral 2. The muiile may be manufactured of any desired material,such as carbofrax, and inthe preferred consuction these lcarbofraxblockswill be of the 4shape indicated in Figure 2; i. e., each block p will beprovided with a semi-cylindrical passage adapted to align with a similarpassage in the adjacent block, thereby forming a cylindrical passagewhen the blocks are assem- Also provided' in each of the muiiie blocksis al burner passage 3 shown in plan in Figure 2, and arranged in thispassage is a burn er 4 comprising a tube provided with a plurality ofjetholes. I have illustrated two of these-burners, but any number may beem- Application iiied. April 2s,

Figure 1 is` a.vert-ical section thrbgh one i p ofthe tubular ovens, andshowinganjendless conveyerxassociated therewith, the structure' cated bynumeral 6. lmember becomes saturated. wlth heat,fur

METHOD AND-APPARATUS Eon ANNEALING GLAssWAE'E 1924. serial No. 709,595;

ployed, and by the selective use of them the i effective length of themuflie may be varied. Any suitable means may be provided forl furnishingair tothe burners, suchas passages communicating with thel atmosphereand having control dampers 5..- f l The length of the mullie Will varyin accordancefvwith the height of the ware and the speed with whichtherarticles. are carried therethrough, although it will be understoodthat the length may `be'varied Within very wide iimits, as conditionsWarrant.` And in place of actually varying the length of the muiiie, theeective length `thereof may be varied as above described. Arranged belowthe muftle is another tubular member of heatabsorbing material, such asordinary fireclay, or other refractory material, as:l indi- 'Ihisheat-absorbing nishing substantially a ireless extension of themuiiie,and its length also is governed by the height of the ware .and the speedwith` which the'articles are carried therethrough. While I -havespecifically described this seci tion of the leer as formed ofheat-absorbingv materialyit will be understood that the invention -is inno manner limited to a leer having the heat-absorbing section, and inplace of the heat-absorbing material I may employ any desirednon-heat-absorbing material.

.- `Arran ed below' the heat-absorbinY 'mem-"- fber is a s `eetmetal'member 7 which extends all the way from the bottom of the-heat-absorbing member 6 to the bottom of the leer,

'vhichnay beten or fteen feet, or 'any length eslre -Any number ofthesel tubular annealing' "ovens or leers may be arranged in a series;and 1n the particular construction illustratfed herein I have shownthree ofthe tubular leers rrangedside byside. This battery of ovens .isinclosed in a teasing of insulating material, sucha`s sil-o-c'el, asindicated by numeral 8. V

Provided in the casingof insulating material isa passage 9 extendingfrom the'top i tobottom ofthe construction, there being one of thesepassages for each leer, andarranged within this passage is one run of anendless l chain or belt 10. The endless chain'passes over an idler att-he bottom of the leer and over a driving sprocket 11 at the top of theleer. Obviously, the sprocket may be driven intermittently by a motor orany other driving means; but I have illustrated herein merely a handcrank 12 Jfor rotating a worm 13 V'engaging a worm wheel 14 fixed on thesprocket shaft.

A number of flights or shelves 15 are attached to the endless chain atregular intervals, and these shelves project into the tubular oventhrough a slot 16 extending from the top to the bottoni of the oven.Attached to 'eachof the flights is a relatively narrow plate y17, andthese plates pass down through the passage 9 and cover the slot 16. Aninspec- `tionof Figure 1 will show that the ends of adjacent plates areoppositely beveled so that they will overlap, thereby constituting meansfor preventing the entrance and exit of air to and from the leer throughthe slot 16. Vhile I have illustrated the plates with oppositely beveledends, it will be understood that any overlapping construction of theplates may be employed. These plates 1T possess the further function ofbracing and adding' rigidity to the conveyer flights.

The bottom of each of the tubular ovens and the bottom of each of thepassages 9 are -provided with a pair of tiltable closure mem bers 18,which extend entirely across the bottom of each leer and passage 9, andwhich are normally held in closed position by means of counterweights19, thereby preventing to a large extent the entrance of air to theleer.

`The specific structure here described does not form an essentialfeature of the invention, and obviously any means for accomplishing thesame purpose-may be employed.

Positioned below the leer is a chute 20 into which the glassware fallslafter having been annealed, and it is delivered by the chute to anendless belt 21 whichconveys the ware to any desired point.

The operation of the apparatus will now be described. p

At the completion of the manufacturing process the articles, while stillretaining their residual heat, are placed on the endless conveyer byanattendant or by automatic machinery. It will be understood, of course,that if the residual heat is notsufticient for the annealingoperation,such additional heat as may -be necessary will be furnished in themuiile. Itisfound that very little, if any, additional heat will benecessary, as will ap pear hereafter. As each article is placed on 'aconveyer shelf the endless conveyer` is',

moved one step to carrytheU articles within l the muitle. This operationis continued step by step until the articles are carried the full lengthof the leer and are .delivered through the chute`20 to` the conveyer 21.

Each hot article that is placed in the leer has beneath it anotherarticle at only a slightly lower temperature than itself, and the heatthat is radiated from this lower body functions as a baffle or barrierto prevent the rapid radiation of he at from the upper article. While Ihave simply mentioned the article directly beneath the article lastintroduced, it will be obvious that there is a whole series of articlesbelow the uppermost article, and each one of these series functions inthe same manner to reduce radiation from the uppermost article, though,of course, the articles further removed from the uppermost article donot exert this influence to the same extent as does the articleimmediately beneath it. It will also be understood, of course, thatwhile all of the heated articles below the uppermost article tend toprevent radiation of heat from that article, so, too, is radiation ofheat from lower articles retarded by the articles below them which havea temperature only slightly lower.

It will also be understood that as the articles are introduced at thetop of the leer in a heated condition -and slowly move downwardlythrough the chamber, after passing through the muiile, the contents ofthe chamber will give up their heat gradually as they move down and theair thus heated will rise to the top of the leer, thereby contributingto the maintenance of the temperature of the upper portion of thechamber.

In order to properly anneal glassware, the articles should be graduallycooled from about 950o to about 600; and from the foregoing descriptionit will be apparent that the temperature of the leer disclosed hereinwill naturally be the highest at the top of the leer, and thatthis-temperature willbeV decreased very gradually toward the bottom ofthe leer.

It is also thus apparent that in annealing `glassware in the mannerdescribed herein very little, if any, heat other than theresidrual heatof the articles is necessary. If the articles were introduced at thebottom of the leer and were carried upward, the heat given `heat to theleer, for the horizontal leer does not presentihe same economicalarrangement as this vertical leer wherein the heat given koi by thearticles being annealed rises to the top to contribute to themaintenance, ofthe temperature of the upper portion of the leer.

The apparatus.y disclosed in Figures 4 and 5 is similar in substantiallyall respects to the i disclosed in FigureLlf.

apparatus hereinbefore described,cwith the exception that in `thismodified form I have eliminated the burners and depend solely on theresidual heat of the articles to furnish Y I. suiicient heaty toaccomplish the annealing .5 operation. As no additional heat is employedin this modified construction, I eliminate the muflie and employ atubular member 22 of heat-absorbing material, such as an ordinaryire-clayor other refractories com- 10 monly used, and which may be ofany desired length; and below this said chamber is arranged a sheetmetal member 7, the same as By reference to Figure 5 it will'be seenthatthe heat-absorbing blocks 22 are constructed and arranged in the samemanner as the 'Inutile blocks shown Ain'Figure 2, the onlydifference-being that no passages are providedfor burners. It isbelieved to be entirely unnecessary to o describe the operation of thismodified form of leer, for itsoperation will be clearly underv stoodfrom the description of the operation of the lee-r disclosed inFigure 1. In that to prevent the radiation of heat from the upperarticles, and that the air that was heated by the radiation of heat fromthe articles rose to the upper portion of the leer tto maintainthetemperature of that part of the leer. And ,the purpose of themodiiied form of leer is to use this heat to the fullest i extent,thereby avoiding the requirement of anyl additional heat. y

In -accordance with the patent statutes, I have described what I nowbelieve to be the best-.embodiment ofthe invention, but I do not wish tobe understood whereby as limiting myself or the scope of the invention,as many changes and modifications may be made without departing from thespirit of the invention; all such I aim to include in the scope of theappended claims. `Having thus described the invention, fwhat I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The method of annealing glassware which consists in placingtheglassware while in a heated condition in the top of the leer,utilizing 'the residualy heat of the articles as the sole source of'h atfor the annealing operation, utilizing` the'heat of the lower articlesto retard the radiation ofthe heat of the upper articles, and carryingthe articles through the leer from the top to the bottom thereof. I v- 52. Means for ing a substantially vertically arranged'leer, a .portion ofthe leer being lined with heatabsorbing material, said leer beinginclosed s in a casing of insulating material, and aconveyer :torcarrying the glassware through the 55 leer from top to bottom thereof,only one run previous description it was shown "how each of the lowerarticles being annealed tended annealing glassware, includof saidconveyer being arranged within the leer.` y J- Y, t

3, Means forannealing glassware, including a substantially verticallyarranged leer, a conveyer for carrying glassware through said leer fromthe top to bottom thereof.

substantially conforming in size and shape to the cross section of theleer, thereby constituting means tending to retard the passage of theheated air through the leer.

5. In a vertical leer for annealing glassware, an endless chain, andleer' pans rigidly attached to said chain, said leer pans mounted toextend substantially horizontally from the chain while in the leer,whereby the leer pans may be closely arranged, and said leer panssubstantially conforming in size and shape to the cross section of theleer.

6. A leer for annealing glassware, includthrough the slot into the oven,and shelves carried by the arms.

7 A leer for annealing glassware, including a substantially verticallyarranged oven, a casing of insulation material inclosing `the oven,saidl casing having a passage therethrough, said oven and passagecommunicating through the medium of a continuous slot, an endless chainarrangedto travel through the passage, spaced arms carried by theendless chain and ,projecting through the slot into the. oven, shelvescarried by the arms, and plates carried by the endless chain andarranged to close said slot.'

8. A leer for annealing glassware, including a substantially verticallyarranged oven,A

a casing of insulation material inclosing the oven, said casing' havinga passage therethrough, sald oven vand passage communicating throughthen'medium of a continuous slot,

an endless chain arranged to travel through the passage, spaced armscarried by the endless chain and projecting through the slot into theoven, shelves carried by the arms,

and plates carried by the endless chain and arranged to close said slot,said plates having an end-to-end overlapping relation when in operativeposition. 5 9. Means for annealing glassware, including a substantiallyvertically arranged leer, a conveyer for carrying glassware through theleer from top to bottom thereof, and means arranged at the bottom of theleer to prevent the admission of air thereto between the dischargingintervals.

10. Means for annealing glassware, including a substantially verticallyarranged leer, aconveyer for carrying glassware through the leer fromtop to bottom thereof, and pivotally mounted doors for closing thebottom of the leer.

ll. Means for annealing glassware, including a substantially verticallyarranged leer, a muftle forming the upper portion of the leer, aheat-absorbing member forming a portion of the leer below the mufle, andmeans for carrying glassware slowly through the leer from top to bottonithereofl l2. Means for annealing glassware, includinga substantiallyvertically arranged leer, a mutlle forming the upper portion o the leer,a heat-absorbing member forming a portion of the leer below the muiile,a member forming a continuation of the leer below the heat-absorbingmember, and means for carrying glassware slowly through the leer fromtop to bottom thereof;

.13. Means for annealing glassware, including a substantially verticallyarranged leer, a muftle forming the upper portion of the leer, aheat-absorbing member forming a portion of the leer below the muftle, amember forming a continuation of the leer below the heat-absorbingmember, a conveyer forv carrying glassware through the leer from top tobottom thereof, and means arranged at the y bottom of the leer toprevent admission of lair thereto between the discharging intervals,said leervbeing inclosed in a Casing ofiinsulation material.

' ROBERT GOOD.

